Billy Strings‘ westward expansion of a summer tour took him to Bozeman on Friday, where the Paul Bunyan of psychedelic arenagrass swung his axe for his first headlining show in Montana since 2022. After playing Bonner’s bucolic Kettlehouse Amphitheater in 2022 and headlining Whitefish’s Under the Big Sky Festival last summer, Strings and his band made a one-night stopover this year at Bozeman’s 8,455-capacity Brick Breeden Fieldhouse—an intimate setting compared to the 10,000—20,000-capacity arenas he frequents back east.
Four shows into his nine-date run of August headlining concerts, Strings and his band have yet to repeat a song (this excludes his 75-minute, single-set performance opening for Dead & Company in Golden Gate Park ahead of the tour). In keeping with unique setlists, Friday saw Strings, Billy Failing, Jarrod Walker, Royal Masat, and Alex Hargreaves dig up a few bust-outs for the occasion, including the first “Montana Cowboy” since the band visited Bonner in August 2022—one month after Hargreaves permanently joined the band.
But far more interesting than any long-lost cover on Friday was a nearly half-hour sequence of uninterrupted music that weaved deliriously through five songs. Following a “Walk on Boy” opener, the band caught fire early on a pairing of “Cabin Song” and instrumental “Blue Grass Breakdown”, with Jarrod Walker lighting the way on a proper tribute to the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe.
Billy Strings — “Walk On Boy” (Mel Tillis), “Cabin Song” > “Blue Grass Breakdown” (Bill Monroe) — 8/15/25
After taking “This Old World” for a ride, Strings sounded off the opening notes of “Away From the Mire”. Though the guitarist has performed the song 175 times to date, per BillyBase, the song has yet to lose any of its sobering introspection—regardless of how many Billy shows you’ve seen. This version deviated from the standard form; after Strings’ cascading leads filtered in and out of washed-out psychedelia like a half-awake dream state in the lofty, free-falling jam that follows the second verse, a new door opened to traditional mountain song “The Cuckoo” rather than the third verse of “Mire”.
Dreaming of that bird, Billy and Jarrod locked into a call-and-response before Alex sliced in with his bow, and the band started flying along like a steam-powered aeroplane. Strings wasn’t daydreaming when he amended the lyrics to, “Well, I’ve played cards with Willie Nelson,” that really happened (and they wrote a song together). Without stopping, Strings seamlessly transitioned back into an “Away From the Mire” jam—touching on the song’s riff amid the solo like a harmonic acupuncturist before finally awaking from the long forgotten dream for the cathartic final verse.
But the band still wasn’t done, as the fivesome emerged from slumber for “Living Like An Animal”. A simple crawl slowly developed into a four-legged gallop for a seamless transition into the Emmitt-Nershi Band‘s “New Country Blues”, with Strings embracing his feral instincts as he bellowed, “I ain’t going back to the city no more!” to put a triumphant end to the five-song movement.
The first set had plenty more to like, including an always-welcome cover of Led Zeppelin‘s “Four Sticks” before an incendiary and jammed-out “Doin’ Things Right” to close. In the second frame, Strings again returned to his animal inclinations for a solo “Groundhog” opener on banjo, enjoyed a run of old-timey songs with his band around a single mic, and went deep on “Sally Goodin'” and set-closing “Wargasm”. Though Strings made no direct statement, his pairing of “Leaders” > “Wargasm” came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s ultimately fruitless meeting in Alaska, where they met to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
Check out taper audio from Billy Strings in Bozeman and stream audio and video of the show on nugs. The entire tour is also available to stream live and on demand via nugs. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your subscription via the links on this page helps to support our work covering the world of live music. Thank you for reading!]
Strings has one more night in Montana tonight, August 16th, in Missoula before heading up to Canada for couple sold-out shows in Vancouver. Find tickets and tour dates here or on his website.
Billy Strings — Brick Breeden Fieldhouse — Bozeman, MT — 8/15/25 — Full Audio
[Audio: mgonnella]
Setlist: Billy Strings | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse | Bozeman, MT | 8/15/25
Set One: Walk On Boy (Mel Tillis), Cabin Song > Blue Grass Breakdown (Bill Monroe), This Old World, Away From The Mire > The Cuckoo (Traditional) > Away From The Mire > Living Like An Animal > New Country Blues (Emmitt-Nershi Band) [1], 10,000 Miles From A Friend, Four Sticks (Led Zeppelin) > Doin’ Things Right [2]
Set Two: Groundhog (Traditional) [3], Country Blues (“Dock” Bogs) [4], Jeff Sturgeon (Traditional) [5] [6], Look Up, Look Down That Lonesome Road (Gene Austin) [6] [7] [8], Leaning on a Travelin’ Song, I’m Still Here (John Hartford) > Running, Sally Goodin (Traditional) [9] > Secrets, Doin’ My Time (Jimmie Skinner), Leaders > Wargasm
Encore: Montana Cowboy (Vern & Ray) [10] [11], Freeborn Man (Keith Allison, Mark Lindsay)
[1] “Day Tripper” (The Beatles) tease
[2] “Third Stone from the Sun” (Jimi Hendrix) tease
[3] Billy Strings solo
[4] Billy Strings solo on clawhammer banjo
[5] Billy Strings on clawhammer banjo w/ full band around single mic (Billy Strings, Alex, Jarrod seated)
[6] Last Time Played 2024-12-13 | 55 show gap
[7] Full band around single mic (Billy Strings, Alex, Jarrod seated)
[8] Alex Hargreaves solo intro
[9]”Fork in the Road” (The Infamous Stringdusters) tease
[10] Billy Failing on lead vocals
[11] Last Time Played 2022-08-09 | 260 show gap